Slow down! New speed limits to hit Tacoma streets starting Jan 1. Here’s where
Drivers in Tacoma will need to slow down on residential streets and on neighborhood business district streets starting Jan. 1.
The Tacoma City Council passed an ordinance in August to lower the speed limit to 20 mph, from 25 mph, on non-arterial, or residential streets. Speed limits will also be decreased to 25 mph, from 30 mph, in four neighborhood business districts: Old Town, 6th Avenue, Lincoln and McKinley Hill. Proctor and South Tacoma already have 25 mph speed limits in place.
Once the speed limit reduction goes into place Sunday, the city will have a grace period before it will begin enforcement. The city is also looking at installing speed cameras on the four neighborhood business district streets and on residential streets.
The lowered speed limit is a part of the city’s commitment to Vision Zero, which was adopted by the city council resolution in 2020. The Vision Zero campaign helps communities nationwide reach the goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and severe injuries among all road users.
“Instead of seeing traffic deaths as the norm or blaming the individual, Vision Zero instead sees traffic deaths as preventable and instead looks at the systems that need to be improved in order to make our streets safer for all users,” Carrie Wilhelme, the city’s senior transportation planner, said in a video.
According to the Tacoma Vision Zero Action Plan, there were 384 fatal and severe injury crashes on Tacoma streets, resulting in 64 deaths from 2016 to 2020.
Lowered speed limits help improve visibility, provide additional time for drivers to stop and reduce the potential for fatal or severe injuries by lowering impact forces, according to a city fact sheet.
“The ultimate goal here is zero fatalities and serious injuries on our streets by 2035,” at-large council member Kristina Walker said. “We’re trying to put all the pieces in place to make that a reality.”
The city’s ordinance to lower the speed limits on residential and neighborhood business district streets state “People who are walking or biking are twice as likely to live after being hit by a car at 25 mph than 30 mph.”
According to the Tacoma Vision Zero Action Plan, pedestrians are most at risk of a fatal or severe injury crash. Crashes involving drivers traveling straight and striking a pedestrian accounted for the largest share of Tacoma’s fatal and severe injury crashes at 23 percent but comprise only 2% of all crashes.
Walker said Vision Zero is good for everyone whether they are traveling by car, bike, scooter or foot, but the focus is on pedestrians.
The next focus of Vision Zero is arterial streets, which is where the majority of fatalities and serious injury crashes occur. From 2016 to 2020, 219 fatal and severe injury crashes happened on arterial streets, such as E. Portland Avenue and S. Tyler Street.
Walker, who was the former executive director of Downtown On the Go, said arterial streets need more than a speed limit reduction but infrastructure changes to lower the number of fatal and severe injury crashes.
“If you have areas that have really wide roads and people are naturally going faster, just lowering the speed limit is not going to result in lower speeds,” she said.
Infrastructure changes could include narrowing streets, putting in stop signs or blinking lights and creating spaces for bicyclists and pedestrians, such as bulb-outs that make the crossing distance shorter.
Infrastructure is an important piece of Vision Zero but is a longer process and is more expensive. Walker said the city will apply for grants and leverage American Rescue Plan Act money to implement infrastructure that supports Vision Zero.
The new speed limit signs are being installed and other signage will be added to the four neighborhood business districts and on gateways to the city.
This story was originally published December 29, 2022 at 1:54 PM.